Which industries can effectively capture carbon in India ?
Oil & gas, coal and cement are the three key sectors that will drive the CCUS push. We are actively talking with public sector enterprises in the energy sector such as NTPC for a range of CCUS tech and Coal India for gasification technology. We have also had discussions with SAIL, and had conducted a feasibility study for CCUS at IOCL's Koyali refinery in Vadodara, Gujarat.
How does coal fit into the carbon capture story ?
We are focusing on coal because it's the most likely thing to do. One of the ways to make coal clean is through coal gascification, which also produces CO2 in a concentrated form. This can be easily captured, and stored or utilised. Coal will continue to be a primary source of energy in electricity generation. Carbon can also be captured from the flue gas created in the process.
Also, coal is used as a fuel in steel and cement production. Since there isn't significant amount of scrap-based or gas-powered steelmaking in India, coal will continue to be used. Over the past 10 years, India has significantly invested in blast furnace based steelmaking. As a result, these factories and power plants can't be shut down. Therefore they have to be retrofitted with carbon capture technology. That's the best solution for the next 10-20 years.
Given that CCUS tech is costly, how can the government realistically fund it on a large scale?
There is an inherent cost in CCUS, but there is also a significant opportunity in accessing low cost funds that are available internationally
In a study that we did for Niti Aayog, we have proposed a model to finance CCUS tech. We have suggested the creation of a body called the Carbon Capture Finance Corporation. The CCFC will be funded by low-cost sovereign or International Green Funds, Carbon Bonds or Climate Funds. By investing in CCUS projects, along with the utilisation of a part of the incremental tax revenue generated, it should be possible to fund the carbon capture credits, eventually leading to subsidy-neutral CCUS operations.
Is CCUS tech competing with alternative fuels such as green hydrogen for funds and attention?
First of all, you know, green hydrogen can only solve a certain set of problems. Producing green hydrogen requires a fully renewable source of electricity. That is not possible today. Also the cost of production is very high at $5.5-6 per kg. At that price, no industrial mechanism or tools can viably produce anything with fuel which is so expensive.
As a result, its not possible to produce it at a massive scale. So, green hydrogen being a solution to everything is a far-fetched idea. It is a part of the solutions for the future which we need to invest now. But it is nowhere near what people think of it.
 "Atanu Mukherjee, President and CEO of US-based Dastur Energy")